iPad Air iOS 8.1.3 Update: 5 Things You Need to Know Now

Last week, after several weeks of rumors, Apple released its sixth iOS 8 bug fixer into the wild. The company’s new iOS 8.1.3 update is now available for all devices capable of running iOS 8, including the iPad Air. Today, we want to take another look at the iPad Air iOS 8.1.3 update and tell you about five things we think all iPad Air users need to know, right now, about iOS 8.1.3 and the future.

Since September, Apple’s been working hard to vanquish the iOS 8 problems that were brought to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch with its initial iOS 8.0 roll out. iOS 8 problems have been a huge problem for iOS 8 users since the update’s arrival last year and Apple continues to try and squash them with smaller bug fix updates. The first was iOS 8.0.1 though in the weeks that followed its release, we’ve seen five more.

Last week’s iOS 8.1.3 update represents the company’s sixth attempt at solving some of these lingering iOS 8 problems. The iOS 8.1.3 is much larger than iOS 8.1.2 and several of Apple’s past attempts and it brings a number of big time fixes to the table.

The most interesting fix is one for the amount of storage needed to install iOS updates OTA. Past iOS updates required a significant chunk of internal storage to install updates without iTunes. With the arrival of iOS 8.1.3, they will now require much less. That’s a big development ahead of the upcoming iOS 8.2 update and ahead of a probable iOS 9 release later this year.

We continue to get, and see, tons of questions about the iOS 8.1.3 update. iPad users aren’t as vocal as iPhone users but that doesn’t make them any less important. iPad Air users continue to reach out to us for feedback and today, that’s exactly what we intend to do.

With current and prospective iOS 8.1.3 users in mind, we want to take a look at what we think are the five most important things to know now about the iPad Air iOS 8.1.3 update.

iPad Air iOS 8.1.3 Update…Update

We’ve been using iOS 8.1.3 on both versions of the iPad Air, the first-gen model that came out in 2013 and the iPad Air 2 which arrived on the scene a few months ago. Both devices are exhibiting excellent performance in all key areas including battery life, connectivity, speed, and third-party applications. We haven’t encountered any major bugs either.

In the past week and a half, we’ve tested connectivity on several different routers. Wi-Fi remains solid. We’ve connected them to several different Bluetooth devices. Bluetooth remains stable. We don’t have the 4G LTE versions of the iPad Air on hand so we can’t say how that is performing so we suggest poking around for feedback from other iPad Air users if you’re concerned.

iOS 8.1.3 is very fast on both models. We haven’t seen any slowdown or sluggishness in the days after its release and we don’t expect to. iOS 8 has treated them well.

 

As far as apps go, while we probably don’t have the same apps that you do, we do have a ton of common iOS apps installed on the iPad Air. Twitter, Facebook, Google Chrome, Hangouts, Slack, Asana, Spotify, and more are all still performing quite well. We haven’t run into any troublemakers, at least not yet. Again, it’s impossible to speak for every single application so if you are concerned, read recent reviews on the App Store and hunt around for feedback from other users.

We’re not going to call iOS 8.1.3 bug-free. What we will say though is that we haven’t encountered any new issues. iOS 8.1.3 is very stable on the iPad Air 1 and iPad Air 2. We might run into smaller bugs down the road, they have a habit of popping up weeks after a release, but we’re optimistic right now.

If you’re done your homework and you’re prepared, you’re probably alright installing the iOS 8.1.3 update. We haven’t run into any major issues, other iPad Air users aren’t reporting major bugs, and iOS 8.1.3 comes with some very useful fixes. It’s worthy of a look and perhaps, an install.

Time to Get Off iOS 7

We’ve spoken to a few iPad Air users who are still lingering on iOS 7. If you count yourself among these iOS 7 users, know that right now is probably a great time to make the move to iOS 8. Not only is iOS 8.1.3 extremely stable on the iPad Air but there is malware going around that could have a huge impact on your security if you’re running iOS 7.

This malware poses a huge threat to your text messages, photos, start voice recording and more. And yes, it can affect you if you’re not jailbroken. And all it takes is a click. If you are currently on iOS 7 and you click a link that asks you to install a new profile on the iPad, you could wind up getting a virus on your iPad Air.

On iOS 7, after a user follows through with this action, the app hides itself from view and can restart if you kill the process or restart the phone. On iOS 8 the icon shows up and the process cannot restart itself rendering it useless. We’ve outlined all of the details and you’d be wise to educate yourself on the subject if you’re still lingering on iOS 7.

In our opinion, now is the time to make the move.

iOS 8.1.3 Problems & Fixes

iPhone users are far more vocal about iOS 8.1.3 problems but that doesn’t mean that iPad iOS 8.1.3 problems don’t exist. They do. Apple’s discussion forums are full of complaints from iPad users though most of these issues are isolated. Many of them are also very common problems that have fixes. You’ll just need to be proactive.

We’ve put together a list of potential fixes for some of the more common iOS 8.1.3 issues and we suggest keeping an eye on Apple’s forums for other possible solutions. Most iOS problems have a solution but they are sometimes very difficult to find.

iOS updates are never perfect. There’s always some risk involved with moving to a new piece of software. That’s why we recommend preparing ahead of the installation. That’s why we recommend staying patient, especially if you’re having a good experience on iOS 8.1.2 or below. iOS 8.1.3 is a solid update but it’s not required.

iOS 8.1.3 Jailbreak & Downgrading to iOS 8.1.2

If your iPad Air is jailbroken or if you’re planning to jailbreak any time soon, do not install iOS 8.1.3. We still haven’t seen an iOS 8.1.3 jailbreak emerge and given the update’s close proximity to iOS 8.2, we may never get one. If you’ve already made the move to iOS 8.1.3 and you have the urge to jailbreak the iPad Air, know that you still can.

iPad Air users dealing with iOS 8.1.3 problems and iPad Air users looking to jailbreak can move back down to iOS 8.1.2. We’ve put together a step-by-step guide that will take you through the downgrade process. This is only going to be available for a little while longer so if you do want to make a move back down to iOS 8.1.2 for one reason or another, you probably want to get on this.

iOS 8.2 Release Date

Finally, it’s worth knowing that the iPad Air’s next iOS update will probably be iOS 8.2. iOS 8.2 is an Apple Watch compatibility update and it’s expected to be released sometime in March with reports pointing to the second week of the month. This is important to note because iOS 8.2 is expected to bring some bug fixes of its own. Something to keep in mind if you’re leery of the iPad Air iOS 8.1.3 update.